Sakura Haruno vs. Tifa Lockhart
Shadow7615= Sakura Haruno vs. Tifa Lockhart is a What-If? episode of Death Battle, and the Bonus Episode of Shadow7615's Season Three Death Battles. It features Sakura Haruno from the anime/manga series Naruto, and the return of Tifa Lockhart from the Final Fantasy video game series. Sakura_Tifa_REMATCH_Thumbnail.png|Shadow7615 Sakura Haruno Tifa Lockhart Fake Thumbnail.png|Nkstjoa Sakura_Tifa_Fake_Thumbnail.png|Shadow7615 Sakura_vs_Tifa_Lockhart_(Alt).png|Pichu95 Abdullah Waheeb Hammad.jpeg|FEVG620 Description Naruto VS Final Fantasy! An old battle revisited! A showdown to finally settle the debate! The rematch of Brawn and Beauty! Interlude Wiz: Sakura Haruno. Boomstick: Tifa Lockhart. Wiz: Ladies of champion strength, and supportive companions at their core. Boomstick: Stepping back into the arena to prove themselves! He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick! Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle. Information Wiz: Created by Tetsuya Nomura, Tifa Lockhart entered the world in Final Fantasy VII in 1997. She stood out from her fellow party members and quickly became an icon of female characters in video games. Boomstick: It might be for two obvious reasons, but she's not just eye-candy. Wiz: Nomura and Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase both liked the idea of there being two heroines. Since it gave the game's hero something to waver between. And so they developed Tifa to be a different fighter than Aerith. Boomstick: You know how she goes. Her parents got killed by Sephiroth, she joined AVALANCHE and became the housekeeper and bouncer of 7th Heaven. With her Feint Brawler style, she's adept at using quick powerful strikes to surprise foes Wiz: And during her adventure, she learned 7 powerful Limit Breaks. Beat Rush, Somersault, Waterkick, Meteodrive, Dolphin Blow, Meteor Strike and her strongest, Final Heaven. These limit breaks allowed her to fight against incredibly powerful beings like the WEAPONs and even allowed her to contend with Sephiroth. Boomstick: She was so powerful that she ultimately helped defend the Earth from many world-ending threats, but throughout the expansive Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, she hasn't been in a leading role. And primarily aided Cloud. Wiz: And then, in 2003, The West was introduced to Naruto. Boomstick: *singing* WE ARE FIGHTIN' DREAMERS! Wiz: 4 years prior, a mangaka or an author of Japanese comics, named Masashi Kishimoto introduced Naruto, the story of Naruto Uzumaki and his quest to become Hokage. Three chapters into the story and Sakura Haruno became part of Team 7 alongside Naruto. Boomstick: Like Tifa, Sakura's introduction resulted in her becoming a core ally to the story's main hero, primarily using her fists to solve problems, she even became part of a love triangle, but that's pretty much where their similarities end. Wiz: When Kishimoto developed Sakura, he didn't originally intend for her to be the main heroine, but as he developed his best example of a heroine into Sakura, she didn't get acclaim initially, but as she grew up, her growth was met with major praise. Boomstick: Anyway, Kishimoto was smart and knew that fighting AND Ninjas were awesome, so Naruto's popularity took off, and before they knew it, Naruto became a hit series and made it's way to the West. Wiz: With Dragon Ball Z being the gateway anime for westerners, many of them recognized Dragon Ball's influence on Naruto. This lead to many loyal fans joining Naruto on his adventures. Boomstick: And that's where things took off. Once the internet started housing websites for versus matches, the two ended up in debates against one another. Which main heroine would come out on top in a one on one fight?. Wiz: While it's not a popular matchup, it did prove to bring a number of debates to the table, with both ladies getting supporters to their side. Boomstick: But no one out there had a solid answer that could resolve the matchup, and that's where we came in. Wiz: However, since June 2015, Sakura and Tifa have both continued to be a constant presence as Naruto and Final Fantasy remain ongoing. Sakura became a mother only four years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but despite being in her thirties, Sakura became stronger than ever. Boomstick: Tifa has continued to make appearances, primarily in the Dissidia fighting game series, proving that she's still down for a fight, Oh and the Final Fantasy VII Remake is upcoming, which will be great, I can't wait! Wiz: Their ongoing relevancy to their series have naturally kept the flames of this matchup alive. Boomstick: Does Tifa finally have the power to defeat Sakura, or will Sakura's peak prove too great an obstacle? Wiz: Well, let's revisit and end this debate once and for all! It's time for a powerful showdown! Boomstick: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE! DEATH BATTLE! The flow of time continued on, changing many things about the world. With the planet newly restored to its former glory, Earth knew peace once again, and life carried on. The Hidden Leaf Village, a home for many, had been destroyed during a brutal conflict that saw the entire village wiped out. But there was hope for those still hung onto it. After the conflict met its end, many willing individuals put their body and soul into the reconstruction of the village, with its archaic design completely unsalvagable, it was reborn into a modern-day utopia. Wielding greatly improved technology and a greater metropolitan area in the land, everything thrived, knowing both what it had lost and what it had gradually built up to. With the Hidden Leaf Village in a new era of its life, so too did people whose actions elevated them to prominence and high authority positions. With the Seventh Hokage's tenure supporting his home efficiently, much of the village's work had been entrusted to his dearest allies. With her new position as Director of the Hidden Leaf Children Mental Health Clinic, Sakura Uchiha had become one of the most consulted experts in this field, her expertise all hailing from her tutelage under the Fifth Hokage. Thoughts of the year many years prior still looms in her mind, as well as the distant relations she shared with her lover, but she endured, remaining devout. Every now and then, she would ponder about her husband. But knew the weight of his work and its incalculable importance. Though any chance she could take, she would gladly commit her time toward. As she continued to treat the mental health of many youths, Sakura came to understand a great deal about just how important it can be for parents to console their children. Sakura reminded herself of her own daughter, Sarada. Today Sakura found herself in good fortune, there were no appointments made at the clinic today. Seeing an opportunity to spend her time pursuing other activities, Sakura closed up the clinic and exited through the hospital that housed her clinic. Recalling that Sarada was still training, Sakura decided she would go and spend her time looking aimlessly, to see if anything would come up. She walked through the Hidden Leaf Village, passing by many sights she had slowly begun growing accustomed to. As she continued to explore, she overheard some people nearby talking about there being suspicious activity not far outside the village border, and that it was giving people cause for concern, Sakura, while not wanting to appear as eavesdropping, approached a store, but kept her ears listening for what was said, "Sounds like trouble, and if it gets into the village, it will be more problematic." Sakura thought to herself. After listening for a short while longer, she had scouted the information she needed and knew the exact location she would need to investigate, with this in mind, she did not take any time to prepare, heading there with the standard equipment she had by her side at all times. As she kept traveling, Sakura made sure to look out for anyone who might be at risk if this supposed activity was to reach the village. Fortunately, as she got closer to the border, fewer people were showing up. Giving her some relief. Now approaching the border, Sakura took a look behind her. Wanting to ensure the safety of innocence. As she departed from the Hidden Leaf Village, she walked for several kilometers, though still within the lands overseen by the Hidden Leaf, as she continued her commute, she approached a grassy field with a forest nearby. In the distance, mountains could be seen, and not far off were rivers, glistening with the color blue. It took only moments for Sakura to realize where she had ended up, this was the training ground where she had been first instructed to hone herself into a shinobi, she had vivid memories of the antics that Naruto got up to, and remembering her actions, as well as how reserved Sasuke was back in that time. A tear almost came over her face, but soon she heard a noise from within the thick forest. Alerted to the noise, Sakura readied for herself, she hadn't expected to find anyone else here, but quickly put two and two together, and deduced this was the suspicious activity she had heard about not long ago. With that in mind, Sakura made a slow approach, trying to get a read on what was going on. The tension was high, but Sakura sustained her focus, knowing there was something, or someone, looming within those trees. With her approach, soon she heard the rattling of leaves and the sound of feet hitting the ground, Sakura knew for certain this was a person, but couldn't possibly think of who it could be, anyone aligned with the Hidden Leaf would have no reason to hide, and known enemies had been wiped out, or at least drawn away from the village. Sakura momentarily thought that perhaps her daughter had been sent to train her as she once did. But she recalled only her team and her mentor's team ever trained here. Someone jumped from out of the trees, their clothing colored completely black. Sakura reached her hand for a weapon but did not grasp it, as she wanted to identify this person first. After a successful landing, the person stood up, revealing themselves a tall woman, dressed in a black leather suit. A pink ribbon tied to her left arm. Sakura gasped as she recognized this woman, it was someone she had not seen in years, Tifa Lockhart. Almost smiling at the sight of someone familiar, Sakura stepped closer. Tifa had already recognized Sakura before she revealed herself. "Look at you, you've aged well". Tifa noted Sakura's now older age, in her thirties. Sakura was surprised, she had not seen Tifa since she was 17, "You look like you haven't aged a day". Realizing Tifa looked exactly the same as she did when they last fought, albeit now wearing a newer attire. "Can't say I know what even brought me back here, but clearly we were met to cross paths again". Tifa commented, Sakura wasn't too sure what Tifa was on about, but she had seen her fair share of strange things in this world. With that in mind, Sakura agreed to Tifa's thoughts. "So how about it, up for a rematch?" Tifa asked. It finally clicked for Sakura, that perhaps the world was telling her to come here and rekindle this old flame. Sakura put up her fists as she responded, "Sure, seems fitting to show you how much stronger I've become after all this time". Tifa smiled, seeing the resolve come to the surface. Tifa raised her fists as well, standing in a posture befitting her style. "Let's get this started." Tifa chimed, the two girls looked at one another, ready to engage. FIGHT! (Cue Loki - Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia) Both girls rushed at each other, almost at the same time. Both clenching their fists and meeting them head-on, their colliding punches send a shockwave expanding outward, shaking the leaves in the trees and causing a minor tremble in the earth around them. A short moment passed, and the two girls jumped back taking a short pocket of time to observe their opponent's next moves. Sakura approached quickly, launching a punch. Raising her arms in defense, Tifa prepared herself for the attack. Hitting her opponent's arms, Sakura's punch did not succeed in breaking Tifa's guard, but the momentum of the punch sent Tifa several meters, though keeping her feet on the ground, leaving trails behind. Slowed down to a halt, Tifa lowered her arms, to realize the strength of just one punch, and commended Sakura in her thoughts. Sending a clear message to her opponent, Sakura readied herself for a counterattack, knowing the fight ahead was not going to be simple. Tifa dusted her shoulder before racing toward Sakura at alarming speeds, though able to react in time. Tifa unleashed a rapid series of punches, Sakura weaved from one side to the other, avoiding them when able. During one punch, Tifa swings herself to her right, though Sakura successfully evades the punch, Tifa sustains the momentum. Having already turned her body a fair degree, Tifa spun herself around, raising her right leg, aiming to kick Sakura. The momentum halted, as Tifa inspected her leg, only to see Sakura had caught her, grabbing hold of her calf. Tifa was unable to act, with a now impotent opponent, Sakura struck Tifa in the torso, sending her a dozen meters back, her lack of balance causing her to meet the ground. Sakura watched on, seeing Tifa rise back up to her feet. Tifa, now keeping in mind Sakura was a fair distance, spoke up. "Okay, you're definitely strong." Tifa reached to her utility pocket, and she retrieved something she had been storing, a small sphere that could fit into her hand, the sphere was glowing green. She proceeded to embed the Materia into her armlet, the Minerva Band. With it now ready for use, Tifa readied herself once again. "But, are you prepared?" As Tifa spoke, she punched forward, the Minerva Band resonating with the Materia. This successfully cast Firaga, powerful fire magic. Jumping out of the way, Sakura watched the flames pass her by. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she sprinted as quickly as possible, to reach Tifa in as little time as her body would allow. Sakura pulled her fist back and thrust it forward as she approached Tifa. Anticipating a strike that was telegraphed clearly, Tifa evaded the punch, surprising Sakura at that moment. Tifa saw a window of opportunity. Sakura had committed so much to the punch that her momentum hadn't stopped. In what feels like seconds stretched out into a thousand moments, Tifa saw an opening. And landed a direct kick on Sakura's back, the force of which unbalanced Sakura, and she hit the ground thereafter. Now finally into the groove of the fight, Tifa felt more energetic than she did originally. Sakura was surprised by that attack, admitting to herself that Tifa was very skilled, and was still as strong as ever. Though the kick had not done any major damage, Sakura could feel the strength behind the kick. Rising back to her feet, Sakura turned around to see Tifa looking invigorated. With the fight now getting somewhere, Sakura knew that she had to start bringing new techniques and powers into play, she had already witnessed what she understood to be a type of Fire Release Jutsu from Tifa. Sakura remembered that she too had access to some of the five basic nature transformations. Concocting a plan in seconds, Sakura immediately set in motion the necessary steps to carry out her plan. Sakura reached to a pocket, which was cleverly hidden by her clothing. Though unlike Tifa, Sakura didn't allow her item to be exposed before implementing it. Tifa however, quickly realized her opponent was trying to apply similar tactics as she did with the Materia. "Oh no you don't!" Tifa rushed to Sakura as fast as she could, aiming a punch directly for Sakura's face. Closing the distance in just a short amount of time, Tifa punched Sakura directly in the face. But as the punch successfully connected, Sakura suddenly vanished in a poof of smoke, Tifa was stunned for a moment, only to realize as the smoke cleared, that a simple inanimate object laid in front of her, a chunk of wood cut from a tree. Tifa realized she had been tempted to attack, deceived all too easily. But before she could even start looking at her surroundings, a group of kunai struck her from an unknown point of origin, two of the kunai grazed against Tifa's clothing, while one of them pierced her skin, just near Aerith's ribbon. The pain jolted through her body, processed into her brain instantaneously. Tifa looked at the ground, observing the three kunai. She realized that had traveled from the east. She turned her head west and saw Sakura standing dozens of meters away. Although the distance was notable, it was not a problem for Tifa, who started running all the way over to Sakura as best she could. Sakura remained in position the entire time, allowing Tifa to approach. Tifa decided to avoid repeating her actions, as she could very well be facing another duplicate. Tifa motioned her arm and launched her Firaga Materia, casting it directly toward Sakura. Sakura simply smiled. As Firaga struck her, she vanished again, revealing yet another inanimate object was in her place. Now Tifa was just confused, and getting a little annoyed. Suddenly the earth around her shook violently, surprising Tifa. Something then cast a shadow over Tifa, which she noticed promptly and turned around. Water from the river had kicked up, and the wave caught Tifa off guard. Logic quickly reminded Tifa that Fire doesn't stand a chance against Water, and with no time to even run away, the wave caught Tifa and completely drenched her from head to toe. As the water hit the ground, it slowly got absorbed by the grass on the ground. Tifa laid on the ground, completely soaked. As she shivered from the sheer cold, she realized one of her Materia had fallen out of her utility pocket. Sakura revealed herself once again, her plan working. Tifa quickly got back on her feet and ran over to her second Materia, and quickly embedded it into her Minerva Band, activating her second Materia. Wasting no time whatsoever, Tifa prepares a large ice projectile, Blizzaga. "Don't move!" Tifa shouted as motion her projectile to strike Sakura directly. Watching the attack coming right for her, Sakura recalled that Ice Release Jutsu was fundamentally composed of two basic natures, Water and Wind. Using her knowledge of the Diagram she studied in her youth, she knew what countermeasure to implement. Raising her fist, Sakura prepared a punch. And before Blizzaga reached her, Sakura punched directly into the ground beneath her. Her punch backed up with enough chakra, the resulting impact caused the earth itself to upend. And just as she had planned, some of the Earth rose in front of her. Blizzaga collided with the earth, causing the icy projectile to crumble and break apart, Tifa had taken this time to rush ahead and approach Sakura, but she hadn't expected an upheaval, compelling her to halt her movements. As Sakura had calculated, her Earth Release was able to defend against the Ice Release, thanks to half of its composition coming from Water Release, which has an inherent weakness to Earth Release. Sakura's earthly punches soon leveled out and she was approachable once again. Sakura decided she needed to keep an open mind about the other uses of Nature Transformations in this fight since their fists were far from the only weapons at their immediate disposal. (Cue Gears of Fortune - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night) Seeing Tifa again, Sakura slowly paced herself toward her opponent, keeping her eyes focused on Tifa at all times. Tifa, on the other hand, had finally gained a semblance of proof that she was fighting the real Sakura, and so she too paced herself forward to approach Sakura. The girls accelerated their respective approaches, both reverted back to their use of martial arts, Tifa beginning the exchange with quick strikes, striking forward with quick punches. Able to work around Tifa's attacks, Sakura met her opponent's attacks with well-timed blocks. However, Tifa's stamina was not showing any signs of fatigue, and her constant bombardment finally broke through Sakura's defenses, a swiftly executed vertical punch was able to break her guard. Now with an opportunity to take advantage of, Tifa struck Sakura three times in succession, striking her torso with her palms. The success her Limit Break paved the way for Tifa to use another. She approached Sakura and put her left foot on her opponent, and performs a somersault, her leg executing a flash kick. Launching Sakura into the air and eventually crashing into the ground, Tifa landed on her two feet. Maintaining her fighting pose, Tifa remained determined, eager to resume the battle. Sakura rose back to her feet in due time. Withstanding Tifa's attacks, Sakura healed any wounds she developed throughout. She thought carefully, thinking about what to do next, recalling Tifa's stamina did not falter during their last exchange of close-quarters combat. Reaching to her hidden pocket, Sakura reached for something, Tifa almost made an instinctive approach but remembered last time she was met with a duplicate she thought was real, and those attacks Tifa just landed suggested to her she was indeed fighting the true Sakura. Keeping this in mind, Tifa instead watched more carefully, to see what became of the situation. Sakura grabbed hold of shurikens, and a group of them toward Tifa, aiming for areas where her weapons can be the most lethal. Tifa was able to faintly detect projectiles headed her way, and cast Firaga from her Materia, as the shurikens met Firaga, they melted under the raw heat and left Firaga on a direct path toward Sakura. With an ample opportunity, Firaga struck Sakura, but she vanished, leaving another piece of wood behind in her place. Yet another duplicate. Tifa looked around in all directions, trying to locate Sakura. Suddenly, three small, sharp objects struck Tifa in the back, piercing her clothing and some even directly cutting deep enough to pierce the skin. Tifa turned around to find Sakura was in her blind spot all along and had used the same three kunai from earlier. Now with a tactic that she could rely on, Sakura made a charging approach to Tifa, who felt unsure of what actions she could take that would be effective. Seeing not much choice, Tifa cast Blizzaga once again and launched the icy projectile toward Sakura, who did not back down. But instead of hiding behind yet another duplicate, Sakura shouted and launched her first directly at Blizzaga. The sheer force behind her punch shattered and broke Blizzaga. Smaller chunks of ice landed on the ground, reasonably close to the two combatants. Tifa hadn't expected to see Blizzaga just be abruptly stopped in such a manner. She sprinted to Sakura and was met with the real deal once again. Knowing that they could easily go into a prolonged exchange of blows yet again, Tifa took matters into her own hands. She lowered herself and performed a circling sweep kick, successfully catching her opponent in the attack. Knocked onto the ground almost immediately, Sakura felt a spiritual energy burst from that attack, it felt similar in nature to chakra. "Does she have Chakra all along?" Sakura thought to herself as she climbed back onto her feet, but before she recovered, Tifa grabbed her by the waist. "Here we go!" Tifa lifted Sakura and performed a suplex, Sakura made contact with the ground, and suddenly many explosions went off, shaking the ground around them. Leaving her opponent on the ground, Tifa watched as the explosions died down. Most of the ground had been shaken and crumbled due to the sheer force of localized explosions. With the smoke clearing, Tifa looked and saw Sakura was standing, albeit she was resting one of her hands on her shoulder. Tifa watched as their surroundings turned back to normal, and Sakura gradually recovering back to a suitable level. "You're pretty tough, can't take you down easy." Tifa commended her opponent's sheer willpower, Sakura smiled a little under her healing wounds. "I can keep going, just you watch". Sakura reached her arm outward, and her Chakra formed into a small, sharp blade, that appeared blue in color. Her other hand, which was down by her side, also assumed this blade-like shape and color. Recognizing Sakura was assuming a fighting stance, Tifa readied herself. Sprinting, Sakura approached her opponent quickly, but instead of going for punches, Sakura's hands looked more like she was trying to karate chop, but her chakra coursing through her hands was enabling her use of the Chakra Scalpel, trying to use her precision to make fatal cuts to Tifa's muscles. Realizing Sakura was not trying for punches, Tifa took to evasion, looking for a chance to strike where she wouldn't be counterattacked. Taking the advantage from the now evasive Tifa, Sakura focused her attacks more on thrusting jabs with her scalpel, trying to aim for the body's muscles that Tifa primarily used, namely the ones in her arms and legs. Tifa continued to move out of the way as best she could, her constant stamina kept her able to avoid the scalpel. Sakura did not feel any fatigue herself. With neither of them showing any signs of slowing down, the battle lingered on. After long enough, Tifa finally realized that if she didn't make a counterattack, she could potentially make one mistake, and be punished for it immediately, so she stopped her defense. Sakura wasted no time and took that opportunity. But Tifa had intended for that, and dropped down, and performed her Waterkick Limit Break. Sakura fell onto her back once again. Sakura then quickly thrust her arm toward Tifa's foot, successfully cutting some of the muscle tissue in her foot. Backing up immediately, Tifa felt a horrible feeling in her foot and knew it was because of Sakura's strange power flowing through her hands. She became hardpressed, she had suddenly found herself potentially unable to heal this wound for some time. Sakura took Tifa's moment of pain to get back onto her feet. But Tifa acted quickly, although she was not fully capable of using one of her feet, she still had more options. Turning to meet her opponent, Sakura prepared her scalpels for another attack, but before she could make a move, Tifa was already right up in front of her. Clenching her fist with Premium Heart, Tifa jumps upward, her fist making contact with Sakura, launching her upward for an uppercut, suddenly a Dolphin appears from out of nowhere. Water also surprisingly appears, drenching Sakura. (Cue Arale Norimaki - Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle) Landing on the ground, Tifa momentarily inspects Premium Heart. Sakura slams onto the ground, she had some wounds, one wound on her head was bleeding, though the water had washed some of it away. Tifa waited patiently, seeing Sakura climb back onto her feet. Fortunately for Sakura, her regenerative powers were taking effect, and working on healing her back to normal. Sakura, now rejuvenated, punched the ground beneath her once again, causing yet another upheaval of the earth, Tifa struggled to maintain her balance. With a window of opportunity opened to her, Sakura reached into her pocket and retrieved another kunai, and flung it toward Tifa. Striking true, the kunai pierce Tifa on her arm, some blood dropped, a small bit of it landing on Aerith's ribbon. Tifa decided to ignore that feeling and charged right at Sakura. Reaching for more weapons, Sakura threw more shurikens, Tifa raised her arm to try and block them from hitting her face. Two of the shurikens struck Tifa's arm, the third struck Tifa's torso, though it only left a thin cut on her clothing. Tifa endured long enough to reach Sakura, grabbing her immediately. Jumping into the air while holding onto Sakura, Tifa jumped just a few meters, Sakura could tell the descent wasn't going to be pretty. Acting swiftly, Sakura grabbed another Kunai and stabbed it into Tifa's waist. Tifa felt the pain but tried her best not to flinch. Still able to complete her Limit Break, Tifa flung Sakura into the ground, upon impact, a huge explosion erupted. Tifa landed on the ground but dropped to one knee immediately afterward, she took a moment to inspect her wound and realized she couldn't treat it at this time. She got back up onto her feet and looked over at the small crater caused by the explosion, she began to think the battle was over. Clarity returned as the battlefield became visible again. Sakura was standing up yet again, she looks grievously injured, blood poured from her body, and completely opened wounds were entirely visible. Despite looking like an actual bloody mess, Sakura remained stern. The violet rhombus on her forehead began glowing with pink light, black thick markings began extruding from the rhombus and extended over Sakura's whole body, her arms, her legs, her head. Unlocking the technique's full power. Thanks to her mastery of Creation Rebirth, the chakra she had stored up quickly took effect, the regeneration kicked in at a surprising rate, Tifa watched with her own two eyes as the open wounds forcibly closed up and the blood disappeared. Sakura, now recovering completely from the explosion, sprinted toward Tifa, who was completely taken by surprise. Feeling stronger, Sakura had the confidence to launch her attack at the cost of exchanging fists, Sakura launched a direct punch toward Tifa, who simultaneously punched Sakura in the face with Premium Heart. The two girls knocked one another back several meters through the sheer strength of their punches. Both realized their opponent's punches were far stronger than before. Tifa acknowledging the markings must be aligned with her strength increase, and Sakura realizing Tifa's strength has always gotten stronger each time she was hardpressed. Both charged at one another, exchanging a flurry of strikes, one after another. Sakura landed a gut punch, which got through Tifa's defenses and caused her to drop to one knee, almost leaving the girl completely defenseless. Sakura almost landed a follow-up attack, but Tifa saw an opportunity and performed a sweep kick, tipping Sakura over and onto the ground. Tifa resurfaced quickly and went for a punch at the downed Sakura. Sakura caught Tifa's Premium Heart and flung her to the side, enabling Sakura to stand up yet again. Tifa recovered quickly as well. The two looked at each other in the eyes. Breathing in and out of their noses, the two kept their focus on each other. Sakura charged forward and threw yet another punch. Tifa swung her head to the right, avoiding Sakura's punch. Tifa then launched her Firaga Materia at Sakura's back, almost point-blank. Launched by the fireball, Sakura hit the ground, and a large hole in her clothing was burned, exposing most of her back, her skin too suffered major degree burns, but her healing factor kicked in immediately, healing the burnt skin within seconds. Sakura turned around, and in a moment of desperation, landed a direct punch on Tifa's forehead, sending her flying into a nearby tree. Hitting hit hard enough that the tree almost collapsed. Blood trailed down Tifa's head. She rose back to her feet and felt more hardpressed than she had ever been in any fight in her entire life. Sakura ran towards Tifa, the fight wasn't over for her just yet. Tifa watched her opponent's approach. Sakura readied another punch intended for the same target. Sakura viciously threw the punch, certain it would finish the job. Tifa jumped out of the way with all her strength. Unable to stop the very punch she committed to, Sakura's punch ripped the tree from its roots. Sakura watched said tree collapse, but that moment of time allowed Tifa to strike. Getting even with her opponent, Tifa kicked Sakura in the back of the head, knocking her forward and onto the ground. Sakura, while momentarily disoriented by the kick, recovered in a short amount of time, getting up no problem. With both girls back on their feet, the two once again put their fighting stances up. Unyielding. Sakura ran toward Tifa, but Tifa took a defensive approach and allowed her opponent's offensive intent. Sakura remained steadily focused on punches, though Tifa's evasive skills did not let her down. Sakura soon realized what she had to do. Resuming the battle as normal, Sakura went for a kick on Tifa's torso, though it did not succeed. Planting her feet back on the ground after the kick, Sakura was ready to carry on fighting. Tifa once again swung her leg in the wide-sweeping fashion. With the intent of striking Sakura's legs, but Sakura had manipulated her opponent perfectly. As Tifa performed the sweeping kick, Sakura jumped off the ground, avoiding it altogether. Tifa did not expect the sweep to be avoided, and Sakura exploited her as a result. As Sakura landed on the ground, Tifa was still bringing her leg back up. With her fist clenched, Sakura delivered a solid punch to Tifa's torso, sending the girl back a dozen meters. Tifa slid against the ground but was able to prevent herself from falling over. A thought came to Tifa, "This must end". With no objections in her mind, Tifa knew what she needed to do. Sakura walked forward slowly, observing Tifa. Closing her eyes and holding Premium Heart close to her heart, Tifa reached her arm outward. Premium Heart began to glow with yellow energy. Said energy was building up gradually. Sakura saw that something was coming, and so she accelerated, sprinting toward Tifa. Slowly pulling Premium Heart back, Tifa continued to stockpile energy into her weapon. Preparing herself for her ultimate Limit Break. She looked forward to confirm that Sakura was still in front of her, and she was. Sakura, whilst sprinting, used that speed to jump into the air. Pulling her fist back as well, Sakura readied herself for the final blow. Tifa looked up and saw the attack incoming. Sakura roared as she thrust her fist straight toward Tifa. Suddenly Tifa jumped backward, successfully avoiding the punch. Sakura landed on the ground, she looked forward only to realize it was too late. Tifa blitzed forward, Premium Heart stretched out, the punch struck, and went through Sakura, as Tifa passed, a colossal explosion erupted, Tifa was just outside the blast radius. She turned around and looked at the spectacle of her Final Heaven. As she watched the explosion dissipate, the blast had successfully erupted from within her opponent, ending her once and for all. K.O.! Conclusion (Cue Victory Fanfare - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII) Boomstick: Damn! Whatever happened, it turned the whole fight around! Wiz: Quite, while Sakura is most certainly the strongest she's ever been, its Tifa's strength that ultimately prevailed. While Tifa's skills are difficult to definitively measure, she does still have the means to end this fight. Boomstick: Yeah, she's lent her hand to helping her party defeat some pretty overpowered beings, like Sephiroth and Jenova. Wiz: Now don't get the wrong idea, we aren't giving Tifa all the credit, but her strength does have measurable feats, take the time she helped throw Cloud up into the air. When Cloud left Tifa's hand he formed a mach cone. Since Cloud and his weapon's combined weight is around 250 pounds, Tifa's throw must have been up to 153 tons of force. Boomstick: So Tifa has a measurable feat, but Sakura lacks comparable strength feats. By the end of the series, Sakura's best strength feat is hitting Kaguya hard enough to make her bleed and break one of her horns. Wiz: Kaguya is certainly comparable to the likes of Sephiroth, so let's compare their encounters. When Sakura struck Kaguya, that allowed Naruto and Sasuke to seal Kaguya away. Although this feat is impressive, Sakura could not go one-on-one with Kaguya, who could simply absorb her chakra without ever needing to fight her. Boomstick: Tifa fought Sephiroth one-on-one in his base form before he fell into the Lifestream, and although she lost, she survived being cut down. And Sephy's Bizarro and Safer forms, while stronger, were both susceptible to Tifa's powerful Limit Breaks. Wiz: While both have accomplished a feat in itself for even contending with these more powerful beings, Tifa's showings prove she can survive against Sephiroth and should be able to survive against Sakura. And while Sakura can't fight Kaguya, she can go toe-to-toe with Tifa, but not win. Sakura does have Creation Rebirth for a unique regenerative advantage, but Final Heaven is able to work through that. Boomstick: Since Sakura's ninja school training leaves Tifa hardpressed with the duplicates and elemental advantages. It ends up working out in Tifa's favor, letting her Limit Breaks surface and unlocking her full power. Sakura put up a good fight, but she couldn't lock in a hart enough punch. Wiz: The winner is Tifa Lockhart. Trivia *This battle was released on the same day as Sasuke VS Hiei. |-| MegaMan Powah!!!!!= Description Interlude Sakura Tifa DEATH BATTLE! Conclusion ' '''Who would you be rooting for?' Sakura Tifa ''' Category:What-If? Death Battles Category:'Girls Only' themed Death Battles Category:'Video Games vs Anime/Manga' themed Death Battles Category:Shadow7615 Category:Adopted What-If? Death Battles Category:Death Battles with a returning combatant Category:Martial Arts Duel Category:Fistfight Category:MegaMan Powah!!!!! 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